No more breaks for wrestlers as WFI gets serious

There might be no additional breaks within the senior nationwide camp because the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) feels it’s time for grapplers to place in additional effort with the intention to safe Tokyo Olympic berths on the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, scheduled from March 26-29 at Xi’an (China).

“There will be no more breaks in the camp as the WFI wants all its medal prospects to stay focused on their training for the Olympic Qualifiers in Xi’an,” mentioned WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar because the camp for ladies bought underway on the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Lucknow on Wednesday after a week-long competition break.

With the inclusion of 14 extra wrestlers, the energy of the campers is prone to go as much as 30. They might be accompanied by private trainers, mentors and conditioning coaches. “Presently, we have 16 wrestlers and seven support staff at the camp. We have submitted the names of other wrestlers so that the camp can be back to full strength. By next week, the other wrestlers will also join the camp. This is being done to ensure wrestlers make it to the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in all categories,” mentioned Tomar.

SAI govt director, Sanjay Saraswat, mentioned that a couple of wrestlers had returned after the Diwali break and extra have been anticipated within the subsequent couple of days. “Some wrestlers and their support staff have returned, others are expected to report in a day or two,” mentioned Saraswat.

“As per the Covid-19 protocol, the athletes and support staff will have to produce Covid-19 test reports before joining the camp and will also have to go through the 14-day quarantine process,” he mentioned.

WRESTLING CALENDAR

Besides saying the dates for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, the United World Wrestling (UWW) — the worldwide physique for the game — on Wednesday additionally determined to carry the World Championship Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria from April 30-May 3. The World Championship might be held after the Tokyo Olympics in Oslo, Norway from October 2-10.

The Cadet World Championship might be held in Budapest from July 19-25, adopted by the Juniors World Championship at Ufa, Russia from August 16-22.